BodyPUMP
by xoVanilla-Bean
Summary: It's actually a gym class - not a popular physical activity. Um. Right? — CloudTifa — AUish.:For kitsune13:. happy birthday !


a . n /  
Because I just landed back on the face of the earth a few days ago and needed to get back into the groove of things. So I'm afraid this story has little to no plot. At...all. :| And if anybody is familiar with the gym class called BodyPUMP, you might have a clue about what I'm trying to describe (and you're awesome!) It's a very silly concept, but - I thought it'd be fun.

ALSO! I'm dumb and awful and never told **_kitsune13_** happy birthday. D: **HAPPY WAY LATE BIRTHDAY, GIRL!** This story's for you :) I hope you enjoy it a lil bit!

bODY**pump**

* * *

"TIFA! Are you on your way?"

Tifa winced at her friend's screeching. "Yes, Yuffie, I'm almost there."

"OH! Well, I've got some kinda bad news..." Tifa could just see her tapping her fingers together in a sheepish attitude. "Ya see, Vincent got sorta mad at me because I did this one, tiny, itsy bitsy, little, small thing and he went all Chaos on me."

She paused.

Tifa prodded, sighing, bracing herself. "_And_, Yuffie?"

"And um..I'm stuck in this one cliff..."

"Yuffie! What on earth-"

"No Tifa, calm down, it's not a big deal. Honest! Cross my heart and hope to - not die. Ugh. I never got that saying at all. Who wants to hope to die anyway?"

"Yuffie, just tell me what's going on," Tifa parked her car in front of the gym. She turned off the engine and slouched in her seat.

She heard Yuffie huff. "It's a reaaallly long story, Teef. And you know I can't shorten anything to save my life. But don't worry, Vince's here -" Tifa heard a low, deathly growl in the background. "And you know how patient he is, I'm sure we can - we can," she heard her laugh nervously. "Ha-ha, good one Vince, good - AYAH!"

Tifa fumbled with the phone and quickly put it back against her ear. "Yuffie! Are you okay? Are you -"

"Uh, Tifa, I gotta go. Like, pronto. But I have to tell you! There is this one hot instructor guy - "

"Yuffie, listen - !"

" - with amazing spiky hair and blue eyes to _kill _for and -" a bellowed roar drowned out the rest of her sentence. "- single! Trust me, I asked him to make sure. I don't understand why, but he is." Yuffie shrieked. "Ahh, I'll catch you later, Teef. Have fun, take care, enjoytheeyecandyyyy!"

And then she hung up. Tifa stared at her phone awhile. She should really call her back, find what cliff she found herself in, and help her take down Vincent. She always had a feeling that guy was a bit crazy...especially adding in how he managed to put up with Yuffie in such a composed way. But now, he was very obviously not composed anymore.

She sighed, placing her phone in her shorts pocket and making her decision. Yuffie was a big girl. She could handle whatever twisted, godforsaken dilemma she found herself in. She was always able to...somehow.

Tifa grabbed her bottled water and jumped out of her car. She eased her way to the gym doors, polished glass shining in the midday sun. They didn't look threatening in any way, much less what Yuffie had claimed them earlier to be. _They look like monster teeth!_

Passing by the front desk, she gave the man working her card to scan. He flashed her a grin, handsome and straight, and she wondered if this was the guy Yuffie was talking about. His hair was spiky and his eyes were blue...

"Can you tell me where the class is about to start?"

"I sure can. Cycle or BodyPUMP?"

"BodyPUMP," she said.

"That'll be right up those stairs," he pointed, "and to the right. You'll be able to see it no problem."

She grinned her thanks. "Are you going to be teaching?"

"I will for a few tracks, but then I'll have to leave," he smiled flirtatiously. "Un_fort_unately. My friend will teach the rest."

Tifa could easily see why Yuffie liked him. He had that smooth charm, that friendly demeanor.

"Alright," she said. "I guess I'll see you up there."

She turned and headed for the stairs, noting the locker rooms to the left of them and the wide, open space that led to treadmills and wall ball courts. The size wasn't huge, but it was decent, with a long row of treadmills, then stationary bikes, then elliptical machines, all facing the stairway. If she stepped forward enough, she could see glass walls beyond the machines, overlooking a well-sized pool and hot tub. Walking up the stairs, she turned right on the landing and saw a door with a label above it titled in dignified lines "Aerobic Studio". There was a window taking place in the middle of the door, and she could see people with benches and towels, standing around, talking, setting up. She saw the benches up against the wall in front of the studio and under a few plamsa television sets, by a row of about six more treadmills. Behind the treadmills were muscle training machines, a few she recognized like squatting, bicep curls, and a rower for the back. The others she couldn't identify from where she was standing, and they looked a tad on the complicated side. Maybe if she decided the class wasn't to her liking_,_ she'd teach herself on the metal contraptions.

She was able to find the metal holder for the towels and grabbed one herself. Then she headed for the benches, picked one out, and went through the door to the workout room.

She kept her trepidation at a minimum. This class probably wouldn't be as bad as Yuffie had exaggerated it to be. If the ninja kept coming, then that explained after the first time it was doable. Or maybe it was just the promise of the male instructors Yuffie loved so much. Tifa wouldn't put that past her. But still, Tifa couldn't forget the day Yuffie walked into her bar-house, collapsing in a terribly dramatic wail on the couch.

"Holy shit, Teef! MY ARMS AND LEGS DON'T WORK ANYMORE," she had cried, fumbling for a pillow cushion. "Too much weight...too much!" And after her petulant complaining, she had closed her hands around Tifa's arm in an iron grip. "You _need _to come with me next time!"

Except now, she thought, looking around, Yuffie had gotten herself stuck in a cliff with her psycho boyfriend. Great.

Turning high tail and leaving had entered her mind once or twice, but was thrown away as soon as it had came. She had never been one to leave something unfinished, no matter how ridiculous or unnecessary.

She readied her things and sat down, examining the the ellipse the walls created. The floor was glossy and wooden, and on the sides, there was a window to the track that people walked around on the outside. She noticed the bars and weight holders on each side near the back wall mirrors, and a small counter spanning the the whole back wall, filled with several, various sized hand weights.

She got up and headed for the bars and weights. After taking the bar off the holder, she stalled and looked at all the weight selections. She didn't really know what kinds to use. There were one kilograms, two and a half kilograms, five kilograms, ten kilograms...

She reached for a one kilogram weight, then backtracked, went for a two and a half, then backtracked again.

"New?"

Startled, she drew away from the weight rack, and her elbow hit something solid. "Oh, sorry!" Turning her head, she became face to face with more blue and more spiky hair. But this one didn't seem as easygoing as the other. His eyebrows looked like small sheens of icicles, and his facial features were like a steep mountain top. Then Tifa changed her mind. His _hair_ was more like a collected bunch of mountain tops, all disagreeing on their direction to point. And it seemed he didn't care about her apology either, so she answered his earlier question.

"Yeah, I am. Was it that obvious?"

He pointed to the one kilogram circles, pointedly ignoring her good-natured approach. "Then put one of these on each side of your bar for the warm-up. Use them for the arm tracks, too." He paused, grabbing some weights from the lower, heavier racks. "I'll come by for the later tracks and give you some suggestions. Have you lifted weights before?"

"Not for a full hour, but I have," she bit her lip at his business front. His eyes seemed to glare.

"Alright well," he turned his bar around to the empty side. "Just to be safe, keep it a bit light today. Unless you're feeling like you can handle more."

She nodded. "Okay."

The door squeaked open from the other side of the room, and Tifa glanced up to see the man from before strut in. He waved to some people, called them by their names. He was all smiles for everybody, and it provoked Tifa's grin contagiously.

"Cloud!" he called, and he headed for the direction of her and the blond. "I see you're helping out the newbie, yeah?"

The guy, Tifa swore, _grunted_. "Shut up, Zack." Zack just shook his head and patted his back knowingly. Placing the last clip to the end of his bar, the blond walked to the front of the class.

Zack must have read the muttled expression she wore, because as he ripped a bar off the stand, he said, "Don't worry 'bout him. He clams up around pretty girls."

Tifa's pupils rolled, and she let out an amused laugh. "He could have fooled me."

Zack shook his hair as he grinned at her. "He's not as serious after he - _warms-up," _he drawled, eyes gleaming with an abundance of betraying deviousness. It was particularly nerve-racking, to say the least. She felt a conscience sense that if she was in another place, her back would be against a corner.

He must have seen her distrust. He carefully shielded whatever thoughts he had, turning the subject in his favor. He held out the hand that wasn't attached to the bar. "I don't think we've been formally introduced. I'm Zack Fair, instructor extraordinare." He paused, smirking crookedly. "And also an aspiring poet."

She raised her eyebrow and took his hand. "Tifa," she nodded. "I've heard - good things about you."

He tilted his head, reminding her of a charming, curious puppy. "Really? Well," he flicked his hair behind him in an exaggerated, jesting motion, "I can't say I'm surprised."

Tifa wanted to roll her eyes at him again, but let a delightful glitter dust them instead. "I didn't take you for a man with a big ego."

He chuckled. "It only makes me more irresistable." He glanced at the clock then. "Whoa, almost lost track of time." He gestured to her. "Don't worry about it being your first time. We'll make sure you're doing everything all right." He smiled, then took off to the front of the room.

Tifa felt a little heated, watching him go. She angled her head sideways.

If this was who Yuffie was talking about, she sure was right about a few things.

The warm-up, although the easiest part of the workout, hadn't been bad, just several second intervals of each exercise they would do. Since Zack was busy instructing everybody, he had sent the other one, Cloud, to help her pick out a weight to try.

"What exercise is next?"

"Squats." It was clipped, short, to the point.

"Oh, okay."

There was a pause as he scanned (Tifa wasn't sure if 'checked out' was the appropriate description) her already toned legs. She almost felt a blush come on under the scrutiny.

"Try a two and a half and two small donuts on each side. See how it works out." Then he turned and left.

She was going to say thank you, but it seemed a lost cause.

It went like this for every track; Zack would send him (or maybe he didn't send him and he just came because he knew she was new. She couldn't quite tell..) and Cloud would tell her what was next, examine whatever part was about to be used, and told her what to try. It went from the squat workout, to the back, to the chest, to the triceps, and then to the biceps.

Going into the seventh track, which came out to be lunges, Zack took off the headset and the battery from around his waist. "Sorry guys, but it's time for me to pass on the microphone." He cut his sharp, straight smile to the crowd. "I have a previous engagement I need to attend to. But I trust Cloud here," he nodded to him, "will do a _great _job for you." He winked toward the class, but Tifa couldn't help but think he glanced at her for a second too long.

Cloud took the battery belt and started to apply it to his hips while he called a farewell to Zack. "Later man."

Zack pulled out a full frontal smile. "Don't wait up."

Cloud's eyebrow raised. "Hot date?" He had put the microphone up by his lips, and his question echoed out for the whole class to hear.

Ignoring the newly piqued interest of the class, Zack acted like he didn't notice. He clapped a hand onto his friend's shoulder and gave a whistle. "Fiery."

For the first time, Tifa realized, Cloud looked relaxed. His shoulders weren't buckled back, his face had a youthful visage and he seemed...nice. In_ two_ ways.

He gave Zack a little smirk and Tifa had to rub at her eyes. Now that was a sight incredibly unexpected. Then he turned to face the wondering attention of the people.

"You hear that everyone? Zack on a date. Let's give him a round of applause."

The sparse males of the room gave out catcalls and whoops, the girls giggled, and Tifa laughed, giving out a few small claps of her own. She watched in effortless pleasure as Zack slapped Cloud across the head and walked to the doorway. He bowed before he reached the handle, not one to be a bad sport.

"Thank you, guys. Thank you. Your support means the world." Waving and grinning, he dashed out the door. And with him leaving, the joking died down and the atmosphere went right back to business.

She sat down on her bench, observing the people around her changing their bars, contemplating what weight she could handle. It didn't seem as if Cloud would come over to her, now that he had to look out over everyone by himself, but she didn't think she would really need him for it anymore. After six tracks, she thought she had a good grasp of her muscle personality. So far, she hadn't had much trouble aside from the occasional wish that songs weren't so long. But maybe that was the point.

Biting her lip, she glanced up to him. She watched him pull the bar up and over his head, right onto the planes of his shoulderblades. Each of his arms flexed, showing the thick, defined chords of layered muscle, hinting that there could be more to it than what he did here. Perhaps he was a worker, someone who put it all into what he did. Tifa wondered, then, what his real job could be, outside of the gym. It must have been ambitious, cutthroat, something that made a person look lonely and tough. Standing there alone only made his eyes that much more icy sharp. But perhaps it was the tight skin hugging the papercut kind of blue, a mixture of royal and aquamarine, that made the sting worse each time he caught her glancing at him.

"Alright, now we're heading into the lunge track. For the regulars, it'd be a great idea for you to add a donut or two, just to feel it a little bit."

She heard some scattered scoffs throughout the room, some shaking heads. A pair of girls gave each other a knowing look and a set of light giggles, while the men scattered around watched and mimicked the added weight, not wanting to be outdone.

Curious, she glanced up, noticing for the first time what he changed his weight to be on the bar. (She didn't feel any shame in admitting that she would rather watch his muscles work than look at black circles any day.) Was that...thirty pounds on each side?

Was he _crazy?_

She turned a little to the side, giving her a slightly better angle. Not much, but better.

And well... His butt was uplifted a good distance. From what she could decipher through his lose basketball shorts, anyway. And if she had to guess, his legs must have been bulked with definition if he could carry that much weight for...what must have been another really long song.

He turned back to face everybody, after fixing the song to the next track. Seeing the weight decisions of the room, he gave the guys a compliment or two, and if Tifa hadn't been staring at him so much, she could have sworn the tiny lift in the corner of his mouth was purely imagination.

"Nice weight picks." He cut his eyes to the giggle twins. "It's a great encouragement for the regulars that come."

Whether he was teasing them or not, one of the girls giggled more while the other gave a squeak of half-hearted protest.

Tifa gave a little smile, but looked down toward her bar. Her eyebrows scrunched with distaste. Of course, though it was her first time coming to this class, it was a bit frustrating having to look around and watch the women put on ten to fifteen more pounds than she was. But she figured it was just the buzz of competition. She had grown up with Zangan's teachings after all, and had even taken up a part-time place beside him at the mixed martial arts academy, around the hours of her popular bar and grill. It must have just been the lectures about defeating opponents in the quickest, most convenient way that she could see, and overpowering them into submission without harming herself in the process. But she didn't really see what all that had to do with _this_.

She peeked back up. Maybe it was just him. Maybe it was just the manner he held himself, how he seemed cold and cocky, how he stole her attention so dexterously without acknowledging it whatsoever.

Not to mention that he look so...so - seductive. Simply by standing there. Lifting the bar over his head, showing the rivulets of sweat curve so intimately down his neck and, and his shoulders.

"The track is only about three and a half minutes, but if anyone's feeling a little weak or tired today, don't feel obligated to increase. You don't have to even use the bar if you don't want to. Body weight is still ideal for lunging, especially for tone."

His abrupt change in advice went heartily unnoticed by her, and she almost almost lost it when she found him looking over at her. She looked away quickly, shook her head, and tugged at the ends of her ponytail in a state of semi-madness. She made her decision split second and added two and a half pound donuts to each side of her bar. She gripped it, bent her knees, and landed it right above her shoulders. She followed the posture of everyone else, making a triangle with both of her legs, pushing all her weight in the front heel and lifting the back one off the ground.

She could feel the prickles all over her face, and even though she didn't really want to, because she _really didn't want to_, she looked up. If not for the anchoring weight on her back, she was sure she would have tipped too far backward. His gaze was increasingly concentrating on her, a notable amount more than it should have been, and his eyebrow raised just enough to be called quizzical. But prominent through the concentration was amusement, and she could tell by the lines around his lips that he was holding back a smirk or smile or even a grin.

She figured the papercuts decorating her face were where all the heat was coming from, but she knew better. She answered it, well _tried answering _would be a better description, with a small smirk of her own.

She saw him blink away and turn back to the rest of the class. "Is everyone ready?"

For Tifa, she didn't think that one question would be so hard to answer. At first it was easy, because she felt completely energetic. But that was before she remembered how fatigued her muscles were from earlier. It was the strangest thing, knowing that she could fight in combat for hours at a time, but when it came to muscle training it was a different workout entirely.

Five minutes into the three and a half minute track (because she knew it had been much, much longer than only three and a half minutes), her vision had become littered with white specks and a rush of dizziness breached her body. Her breathing was coming out shallow and ragged, and she noticed in the mirror that her complexion had a nasty pasty look to it.

"Once more, slow down..."

Even his voice had become like an echo, far, far away. She closed her eyes shut and willed the lightheaded feeling to leave as best she could. The last thing she wanted was to faint in the middle of class and have to give in that she should have listened to the instructor.

"And up..."

Up, she thought. Up, up, up and then...

Then the music stopped. She opened her eyes and felt, more than saw, the blackened edges fade from her sight. It was over. _Finally._

She pushed up shakily and was somehow able to take the bar off her back and onto the floor. Relief flooded through her like water, and her head grew to a nice, heavier weight. She rounded around her bench and sat with a sigh. She reached across the floor and grabbed her towel, wiping her face free from the scattered beads of sweat that sprung on her face. Inhaling deeply, she took in the nice, clean smell of the towel, and it seemed to free her stomach of the queasy knots it had succumbed to.

"You okay?"

She jumped, startled out of her daze. She looked up to find Cloud towering above her, his stance and concern professional and instructor-like. "You were getting pale."

She shook her head too fast, making herself dizzy again. "Ahh, no I'm fine." She looked away and rubbed her face with the towel again. "I feel great." He didn't move from his stance, and she didn't know what to say to make him move on with the class. She felt a stab of fluttering. He did look pretty impenetrable.

She defaulted to a grin. "Thank you, though."

And all of a sudden, he looked vulnerable and readily movable all at once. "Yeah," he nodded.

He was turning to go back to the front, but she stood and called out, "So, what track..is ne...xt."

Standing up was far from the greatest idea she ever had. The rush went to her head and the blackened edges came back, much more equipped and keen on taking her down. It was like a vaccine that was too strong, and Cloud must have been the thing that made her defenses weaken. Tifa had to admit, she did have a soft spot for muscles and blonds, and he seemed a tad bit on the mysterious side...which was a nice bonus.

She would have shivered if, you know, she wasn't keeling over and about to land face first on the ground.

She could have sworn she died for a few seconds, as her vision faded out and there seemed to be a lapse in time, because when her eyes fluttered and her sight fazed back to her pupils, she saw a mesh of tan and gray, and she felt warmth and dampness, and if anything, this should have been like flying on a cloud way up high in the atmosphere. The sky was really, really blue, and not exactly sky blue, but not exactly _solely_ blue either.

"Ti - fa."

She smiled, hearing the echo from a far, far away place. "Hi."

"Can...he-ar me?"

"'Course I can." She felt a delirious laugh come on. "Why wouldn't I.."

She looked around, but it was bright white and foggy, so she closed her eyes again and saw aquamarine. "Pretty..."

She felt something brush her face, and it was rough and prickly, right by her cheek and the curve of her chin. It tickled her and she laughed again. Then she felt something cold. Really cold. And wet. Then she felt a lot of it, and she felt herself cough, her eyes blinking violently and looking up.

The blue was overwhelming. It wasn't like looking through the foggy white-gray clouds and to the atmosphere; it was much more striking, a million papercuts in the exact same place. She inhaled deep and coughed several times.

He let her finish, replacing the water bottle he was holding with something else. Then he said, "Drink this."

She blinked at his demanding tone and looked down at his outstretched hand. There was a waiting carton of apple juice, a straw punctured through the hole and everything. She slowly took it out of his hand, and at his stare, she took a few sips. Though she felt better after waking up, she wasn't going to embarrass herself any further and try to stand. The deadly fainting bug would come back and bite her again for sure.

She set the carton down beside her on the counter, right beside where she was lying. It looked like they were in a back room, a small, upraised cot against the wall, reminding her of going to the pediatrician and waiting on the uncomfortable mattress with crinkly tissue paper, except there were a few pillows making her sit upright. If he was wearing a stethescope instead of a sweaty grey tank, it would have completed the picture.

"Thank you," she said, gesturing to the juice. "But how did..." The connection came to her in a second, why he was standing here with her instead of upstairs, finishing the class. She felt herself unattractively color what must have been a pomegranate blush. So maybe that's why it felt like she was flying, because he was carrying her and the warmth and the grey and the sweat and...clouds. Oh. Hah.

She kept her head down, wishing ardently that her hair was down instead of in a high ponytail. It would have helped, even if he could still see her face. At least she would feel much less open. She rubbed at the right side of her face self-consciously and sighed.

"I'm sorry you had to bring me down here. You didn't even get to finish your class."

She saw the shake of his head out of her periphery. "It wasn't a big deal." She cautioned looking up at him. "I don't think I'll be too sore from carrying you."

His little joke was so unexpected, and his face was so restricted and serious, he surprised a laugh out of her. She wouldn't have thought a guy like him could be...loose, especially when they didn't know each other at all. But what did she know? He was _mysterious_.

"Did someone take your place?"

He nodded. "Of course. I wouldn't leave the class without guidance."

"Right.." she paused. "Well, maybe next time," she said smiling, "I'll take your advice."

He shrugged, rubbing his head. "You almost made it. There were only three more tracks left, and the last two had us lying on a mat."

Something about that sentence made her repeat her blush. "Still..." she said, "I wouldn't want to faint twice in a row. I might earn myself some unwanted nicknames."

His lips upturned ever so slightly. "I dunno...you look like you could kick ass if you got angry."

She tapped her chin, keeping her girlish delight to herself. "I _do_ teach martial arts."

He gave her all of his interest then. "Really? At Zangan's?"

"Since I was eighteen," she nodded. "He's one of the best. I love working with him."

"Yeah," he agreed. "That must be a great honor."

"It really is." She tilted her head. "Have you met him before?"

He hesitated for a second. "Once. He came as a guest and taught us a few combative strategies."

She sat up, away from the support of the pillows, and let her legs dangle from the cot. He grabbed her arm reflexively, and at her surprised look, he let go quickly. "Uh, don't move too fast."

"I'm fine now," she assured him. "So where was it that he taught you?"

"I was - " he grabbed the juice carton and held it to her. "You should drink the rest before you move around."

She gave him a look, but complied. "Alright." Sipping it, she looked expectant.

He started again. "I was - in the army. For a while."

Recognition dawned on her face. "Oh, of course. He told me about teaching new recruits and traveling around to different conventions, sometimes."

It made sense. His icy looks, his tough guy tone. But knowing only made her more curious.

"What do you do now? Besides taking care of fainting girls, I mean," she gestured.

What surprised her the most about him was his capacity to show emotions so readily, but hide them so deftly too. She watched him become a bit shy, turning his head away and down, looking strikingly like a little boy.

"I'm hopping around right now. Can't find anything steady, except this."

She finished the rest of her juice, set it down, and pushed off of the cot. Her knees knocked around, unaware of her sudden weight, and she hurriedly caught her balance. But not by herself. Cloud pitched forward and gripped her by the waist, turning her knees into a very gossamer jelly.

It was deja vu; it was tan and grey and a vibrant blue, again. However, this time, there was no fog or bright white lights. Only Cloud.

"Oh, I'm - " her breathlessness confounded her into silence. Or maybe it was his proximity. Or both. Whatever the case, his warmth was exceedingly distracting and his grip on her hip was drugging her mind. "I'm - I'm, um."

He delicately rocked her, trying to find a balance point. "Yeah," he breathed. "Me too."

If Tifa had her head on straight, she would have realized that didn't make any sense. But her head was rolling on the floor, so she nodded in agreement. Her hands moved onto his chest and burned a steady trail to his abdomen.

"I have a bar and grill," her eyelids blinked unsteadily. "You could - you could work there if, um, you'd wanna."

"Sure. Yeah, that sounds good." His other hand had come around and landed on her cheek. His thumb was rough and prickly.

"You have..." he said. "Really long hair."

"I know. I'm thinking about cutting it."

"Why?"

"A change, I guess."

"I - like it."

She felt the hand rubbing her cheek move up into her hair. The band slowly came loose, and she felt the tug of hair fall down in a massive wave. She watched his face change, the skin loosen like the band, now snapping on the tiled ground, and his eyes didn't seem to be so severe. They seemed...if anything, they seemed to glow.

She heard him let out a shakey breath. "Yeah. I like it."

Her cheeks turned into two stove burners, and the flame scorched its way down her neck. "Oh. Well..maybe I won't."

He smiled, steady, sure. "Good."

"Tifa? What the hell are you doing in the back -... OH." Yuffie rammed her way through the doorway, making a clatter only she knew how to make without there being a door to slam up against the wall. Tifa and Cloud both let go of each other as if they both had cancerous diseases, giving them a healthy amount of space in between. But Tifa, being in such a flimsy, out of sorts state, did not believe it was Yuffie who was actually standing there.

But Yuffie was obviously more into what was going on in the room. Her stunned expression turned into one of dark, devious thoughts. But then it abruptly changed as she looked at Cloud, up and down, a dooming revelation attaching to her whole face.

"OH, no! Tifa! Why in the name of Gaia did you go after the one that was broody and has freaky eyes? I know he has spikes and his eyes are," she squinted at him, "kind of blue, but come onnnn."

Tifa's eye twitched and her face was a volcano now, but she glared at Yuffie all the same. "Yuffie, Cloud is right here - "

"Cloud? What kind of name is - " she scrunched her face and stuck her tongue out. "I was talking about Zack! Get with the program, Teef. You guys were _supposed_ to hook up. I foresaw it and everything."

Tifa hid her face in her hands. The last thing she wanted to do was look at Cloud.

Who was actually holding back snickers.

"How did you foresee any - "

"I'm a ninja, Teef. A ninja."

"I'm guessing that's why you're here?" she muttered.

"And I can't hook up with him, because Vince will think I'm a polygamist or something stupid like that."

"Yuff - "

"Now my only option is Aerith. Of all people! Knowing her, she might bind him into something totally uncalled for, like...like...like marriage." She gagged. "That poor soul. Won't know what hit him."

"I think - "

"Yeah, yeah," she waved her hand. "I know when I'm not wanted. Go on and keep makin' out, I'll leave, I'll leave. Geez." With that, she bolted away from the doorway and ran up to the second story of the gym.

It was silent for a few seconds, and then Cloud spoke. "She seems like a handful."

"You don't know the half of it."

She looked back to him, still pink and slightly disheveled. "I'm sorry, she's kind of outspoken. And..not in a cliff.."

For a second, his face was thatched with confusion, but quickly went back to being in an unhealthy state of - of - confidence?

"She _did_ think we were making out."

She laughed nervously. "She does get a lot of things wrong."

He smirked, and her stomach dropped. How could Yuffie rub off on a person in such a short amount of time? That in itself was bafflingly dangerous.

"It doesn't have to be wrong." He stepped forward.

"I guess...not."

"Unless you want it to be." His words did not match his smug expression.

"No!" she wanted to bite her tongue. The sparkle in his eye _grew_. "I mean, we could always - make a correction to her assumption."

He seemed to think about it. "It would be a good cause."

They stared at each other for a few seconds, and Tifa's eyelids lowered to the halfway mark, unbidden. Cloud's grin became a dark line. Tifa walked forward slowly, meeting him in the middle of the room. His eyes moved with her as she came to a stop in front of him, not letting herself touch him. Which only made the space more frustrating and more irritated with electrical currents.

"You know..." she said, leaning. "Your eyes _are_ a bit...freaky."

Something in her tone zapped him. He lunged forward and grabbed her waist, relishing her gasp and small noises she made when her back was stopped by the wall. He leaned down, and though his intensity level was high, he kept his lips gentle and probing, instead of viciously scavenging.

Her hand went automatically to his hair, massaging his scalp and creating a small sound in the back of his throat. The sensation was exceptionally immense. It made her dig her hands further in his spikes, exploring the nape of his neck to the top of his head.

His fingers bore into the joint between her hip and her legs, making a weird, fuzzy affect upon her stomach. His left hand left the joint and went lower, grasping her thigh and lifting it up on his own, narrower hip.

As expected, the movement made her gasp sharply, and he took advantage. He slipped his tongue through her lips and she involuntarily squeaked. He touched the roof of her mouth and found a strange sensitive spot by her teeth that made her make a sweet little noise that he found he couldn't get enough of. It stung through his own mouth, plunged deep into his chest, and it made him grow very, very hot.

And suddenly, he wanted to take off his clothes.

He broke off the kiss before he could think about it, reluctant and panting, both having swollen lips and a twisting hunger that penetrated much more than just their stomachs. She watched him, grinning like a fool with eyes like apple cider and lips that she wanted to keep kissing for_ever _-

"I think," he exhaled, "I want to take you up on that offer."

"Offer?" she asked, thoughts not able to take giant leaps.

"For the job."

"What - now?"

"Right now."

"_Why_?"

"Because..." he pressed his forehead against her temple and breathed into her ear. "We can negotiate elsewhere."

She swallowed back a peep, hating how she couldn't speak. "O-Okay."

He stepped back, the warmth still murmuring across their arms and legs. It held a secret agenda, flaunting across her face and taunting her thoughts with a dozen untimely questions.

But through those questions, Tifa thought. As his hand closed around hers and navigated their way to the parking lot, she knew she'd have to thank Yuffie later.

She _really_ liked this class.

* * *

a. n /  
Well, the class_ is_ called BodyPUMP. I guess I just can't get away from how sexual I think that sounds. 8) I have a feeling Cloud's inner deviousness came out too fast, but I can see him having a weak guard when it comes to her, even if they just met..don't you think?

Regardless, I hope everyone enjoyed it! :D reviews are, of course, always awesome and lovely and great motivation.  
ANNNDDD: I encourage everyone to workout at least three to four times a week. Nobody have any heart attacks!


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